Bogen 3047 QR

[Curt]

I ordered a new quick release plate for my Bogen 3047 and when it arrived I quickly noticed that the design had changed radically. The screw and outer washer that allows the plate to be removed by hand has been replaced by a a single and shorter screw and no washer to put it on by hand. I ordered the 3/8" model. It has to have a quarter to tighten down the screw or a mighty big bladed screw driver. It's totally ridiculous to have made this change. They slimmed down and got cheap.

It did have the small 1/4 20 screw that just happens to work with the base of my Calumet C1 former Green now black monster. The problem was the camera had a tendency to turn on the plate. With the 3/8" in and the 1/4" screwed in it is solid now. Now I need a 3/8 plate for my RB67, I have an adapter to 1/4" in it, I was going to swap the new one out but the plate is now at home on the 8X10 with the second screw so that's where it will live out its days.

[R-C-G]

I actually like the flat bottom plate, unlike the screw/nut combo you can set your camera down and not have it tilt over to the side. Also with the old style I never just hand tightened, but used a wrench or something to make sure it wasn't going anywhere. I should also note that I'm not really in the habit of taking plates on and off my cameras, so the ease of tool-less attachment isn't really important to me.

I have seen the old style tool-less plates sitting next to the flat bottom plates at my local camera shop, though I haven't noticed if they had both the 1/4" and 3/8" screw or just one.